First Communion celebrations are already taking place in parishes here on the Peninsula beginning this weekend.
ty at St. Patrick’s Seminary and University in Menlo Park, will address these questions in her talk, "Looking at Catholic Fiction," which will be hosted here at Pauline Books & Media on Thursday evening, April 24th, at 7:00p.m. She will be exploring the works of Catholic writers like Flannery O'Connor, Graham Greene, Georges Bernanos, and others.
This Sunday, March 30th, we celebrate the Feast of Divine Mercy. During the year 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized the Polish nun, Faustina Kowalski, and formally designated Mercy Sunday to be celebrated the Sunday immediately after Easter. John Paul said he had felt a particular closeness to St. Faustina when he was writing his Encyclical Letter on the theme of God's mercy, Dives in Misericordia. In 2005, the Holy Father died on the vigil of Mercy Sunday."On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity." (Diary of Saint Faustina, 699)
We have a number of Divine Mercy resources available here at Pauline Books & Media. The following are just a few suggestions:
Mercy Minutes: Daily Gems to Transform Your Prayer Life
paperback, 450 pages, $12.95
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy Sung by Still Waters and Friends, CD, $14.00
Generations Unite in Prayer: The Divine Mercy Chaplet in Song, DVD, $20.00
The next book to read and discuss at our Lives of the Saints Book Club will be Edith Stein--A Biography. Edith is the brilliant German philosopher who converted to Catholicism from Judaism. She became a Carmelite nun and ultimately lost her life at an Auschwitz concentration camp.
Now is your chance to stock up on remaining Lent and Easter items (both in English and Spanish!), which go on sale today at a 40% discount. Included in this sale are greeting cards. 
Blessings and prayers as we enter the holiest week of the year.
Last evening, March 13th, we had Fr. James Graham, Melkite Greek Catholic priest and Dr. Ruth Ohm, professor at St. Patrick's Seminary, for a truly inspiring presentation on the Spirituality of Icons. Our guests were a lively and participative audience, interjecting personal anecdotes and questions. Our lecture space became a mini-icon chapel as we were surrounded by holy images of Christ, his mother Mary, and the saints. These icons served both to illustrate the points being discussed and then allowed for an actual prayer experience. We were each invited to choose an icon to stand before, quieting our hearts and minds and contemplating the image, even allowing ourselves to be drawn inwardly toward the mystery being represented therein.
Lovely images of ancient and new Monasteries & Churches were made possible through PowerPoint and further enhanced our experience. New friends were made among Greek Orthodox and Eastern Catholic participants. Several remarked that it had been a truly inspiring presentation and many chose to purchase prints of the icons which Fr. Graham made available to us.
Don't forget to join us this Thursday, March 13, at 7:00p.m. for the lecture Windows into Heaven: Praying with Icons. This special joint presentation will be offered by Father James Graham, a Melkite priest and pastor of St. Elias the Prophet Greek Catholic Mission, and Dr. Ruth Ohm, Professor of New Testament at St. Patrick's Seminary.
For more information, please call 650-369-4230.
This past weekend Sr. Susan James and Evelyn, our Assistant Manager, exhibited Pauline Books & Media products at the Religious Education Conference in Stockton. We had a beautiful display, as you can see by the photos, and the exhibit was we
ll attended.
Evelyn, who enjoys these "road trips" very much, is second from the right in this photo. 
Masterfully weaves best-loved legends surrounding the Lord's death and resurrection into a story children will never forget. Soft, lovely illustrations.
Hardcover, 48 pages
Regularly priced: $14.95
Lent: An Uncommon Love Story
The Power of Small Choices: A Creative Approach to Your Lenten Journey
Sr. Susan James recently began offering a presentation (a kind of min-catechesis) on the Eucharist for parents of children who will be receiving their First Holy Communion. She was encouraged by the diocesan Director of Religious Education to develop such a program, and the results so far have been very positive.
A contemporary married saint! Gianna Beretta Molla (a wife, mother, and physician who died in 1962 and was canonized in 2003) was over 30 years old when she met Pietro, her future husband; their friendship quickly moved from acquaintance to passionate commitment. This book details her correspondence with Pietro and illustrates her life as that of an ordinary woman dedicated to love: of God and her faith, of her husband and children, and of the patients entrusted to her care. 
hed a marvelous booklet on "reconciliation and the beauty of God," called Why Go to Confession? This little gem of a book (it's only 72 pages!) addresses some of the difficult questions contemporary persons have regarding confessing to a priest, the existence of sin and evil in our world today, and how the experience of God's forgiveness can free us for love. There is also a beautiful lectio divina on the parable of the Prodigal Son, Scripture texts that help us better enter into a personal examination of conscience, and questions for reflection based on the 10 commandments. The following is taken from the introduction:Let's try to understand, together, what confession is. If you truly understand it--in your mind as well as your heart--you will feel the need for this encounter and experience its joy. It is an encounter in which God, in giving you his forgiveness through the ministry of the Church, creates a new heart and places a new spirit within you, so that you may live in reconciliation with God, with yourself, and with others, becoming capable of offering forgiveness and love yourself, leaving behind any temptation to distrust or any sense of weariness.
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